Lily Flower

Pure Vanilla/Dark Choco: Two Birds, on a Wire

They spent another few days testing the limits of the cursed sword. Pure Vanilla tried to work on his first hypothesis, but every time they tried to get Dark Choco to destroy his sword, he would simply shut down, like a program that received two conflicting programs. Illusions, trickery, and even mind control failed, yet Dark Choco could change the curse's structure to hone it. The sight of the prince peacefully sharpening his sword became vexing to both of them. He wished to pursue it further, but Licorice pulled him back and said that he should know when to give up. The healer begrudgingly moved on to his second theory.

This theory was that the sword, which was created for use, must have a wielder that does not long for its destruction while someone else attempted to destroy it. Pure Vanilla, as the more powerful of the two, decided to be on the offensive end while Licorice held the sword.

Licorice, in all his pride, insisted that they experiment in his room. Perhaps he wanted to lavish in the security of his place, but Pure Vanilla didn't think it was the best idea.

"Licorice, I'm not sure whether we should be trying this inside."

"Don't worry, I've moved my fragile belongings away and reinforced the door."

"He'll just break through the wall next to it," he protested.

"This whole place is spelled from top to bottom! If he can't break through my shield, then he can't get in here either."

The healer didn't know where Licorice got the idea that Dark Choco wouldn't be able to pierce his shield. Licorice was a beginner, even if he was studious in his practice, and the prince, despite lacking his sword, was strong.

Well, if he really wanted to decide the location, Pure Vanilla wouldn't bother him. He relented and began preparing for the experiment. He handed over the sword and the reaper stood to the side, holding the blade as far from himself as he could without his grip becoming unstable. Pure Vanilla started gathering his magic. He instructed the other to not think about destroying the sword.

"Asking me not to think about that is like asking me to ignore the pink dragon in the room. You know what people say about pink dragons..." he grumbled.

Of course, the more one tries to stifle thoughts of a pink dragon, the more prevalent it is. Licorice couldn't control his intent just because Pure Vanilla asked him to. But he had planned for this. A neutral intent would suffice, so he only needed to take the reaper's mind off what he was holding.

How did Pomegranate use her mirror again? It felt like taffy, magic pulling and siphoning through an infinitely small space. She had pulled him into his mind several times now, and he was reasonably confident in his ability to replicate her. He knocked his staff against the ground and its pupil flashed, bringing him to another's mind rather than the reverse.

The world fizzed away, and suddenly they were in an empty classroom. Chalk and abandoned books lay around him, and beyond them, the reaper was standing in front of a blackboard full of concentric circles. Licorice's avatar was dumbfounded. "H-huh? How did-?"

Pure Vanilla walked up to him and tapped him on the chest. "Chew on this." He gave the other man his memories of destroying the small kingdom. The heat from the flames, the hallucinations, and the scope of the healer's destructive potential was all shown to Licorice. Then he broke contact. They returned to the physical world, with the reaper holding Dark Choco's curse while he gathered energy to attack.

"P-Pure Vanilla...hey...that's a lot of magic, y'know." Licorice was suddenly regretting being on the other side of the blonde's power. He had been unceremoniously reminded that both his master and the man across from him had a similar capability to bring ruin to those around them.